Maine Just Legalized Dispensaries! :D

I have been long awaiting this day and last time I checked a law legalizing dispensaries and expanding the number of diseases covered by the law was in the lead 60% to 40%. They group that pushed this bill plans on opening the first shop in my home town and I can not wait!

thats awesome bro! congrats!

good deal guy can't wait till we get there over here.still in the works

huzzah! let the great experiment begin!

Is there any one here in Maine that is serious about starting a dispensary ? I am. if you are, pm me.

Great news indeed.

I am serious about starting one but don't think I have the background to get the business loan.
It is $5000 just to get the liscence. And we are going to have to wait 300 days for a board to decide what new diseases will be covered by the new law.

Yeah they arent gonna be lighting any fires to get this measure up and running.

The list of ailments that are allowed under the new bill is still VERY small. You can however appeal to DHS to get your condition approved.
I believe thats the part that takes up to 300 days. The new ailments are listed in the bill itself.

im going to move to main when one opens up vermont it taking way to long

Dont get too excited about this yet, I read an article in the paper today, kinda confirmed my suspicions on the whole matter.
The article compares how loose the laws are in California compared to what just passed here.
Copied and pasted from the article :
"Maine law requires that dispensaries be licensed by the state, but California law does not, Nadelmann said. Maine law also narrowly defines medical conditions for which patients can get a prescription, while California allows doctors to recommend it for virtually any ailment, he said".................."

The law also ensures the right of local municipalities to not allow dispensarys through local zoning laws. I guarantee that there will be a lot of towns that will do just that, zone them out.
I also read yesterday that the state has 30 days to form a council and set guidelines. The head of DHS for the state has already stated that the state will have TIGHT control over dispensaries, including how many can be in a certain county. etc.

Better have all your T's crossed and I's dotted if you are serious about starting a dispensary in Maine. It seems like they view California as exactly what they dont want.
The medical conditions required for receiving a card were not expanded very much at all. There aren't going to be many cards given out due to this. Compound the small market, the $5,000 for a license, the need for 2 different spaces (one for growing, the second for a dispensary) and that's gonna be a tough nut to crack.

There is reason that many MMJ activists in the state weren't happy with the bill. It hardly goes far enough to help enough people and they've made it an economic liability to operate a dispensary.

I suggest this read for anyone interested in the details of the MMMA and how it will play out. This is the report for the governors review made by the first committee, the second committee that decides how the card program will be handled and how much funding will be provided isn't going to meet until January 2011. Overall I think the committee does a good job at clearly protecting patient and distributers rights but nothings finalized yet.

look up username hodgegrow or hodgeman to see a truely ridiculous prop 215 california medical marijuana grow... its what calis all about

yeah its hodgegrown and look at his monster attempt

The law also ensures the right of local municipalities to not allow dispensarys through local zoning laws. I guarantee that there will be a lot of towns that will do just that, zone them out.
I also read yesterday that the state has 30 days to form a council and set guidelines. The head of DHS for the state has already stated that the state will have TIGHT control over dispensaries, including how many can be in a certain county. etc.

Better have all your T's crossed and I's dotted if you are serious about starting a dispensary in Maine. It seems like they view California as exactly what they dont want.
The medical conditions required for receiving a card were not expanded very much at all. There aren't going to be many cards given out due to this. Compound the small market, the $5,000 for a license, the need for 2 different spaces (one for growing, the second for a dispensary) and that's gonna be a tough nut to crack.

There is reason that many MMJ activists in the state weren't happy with the bill. It hardly goes far enough to help enough people and they've made it an economic liability to operate a dispensary.[/QUOTE]

Towns and municiplaities will take one look at the revenue generated and each will be chomping at the bit or deal with thier budgets without extra revenues...

JohnnyDaManiac said:

I am serious about starting one but don't think I have the background to get the business loan.
It is $5000 just to get the liscence. And we are going to have to wait 300 days for a board to decide what new diseases will be covered by the new law.

Click to expand...

The registration is now $15,000

And where ever you got your info about them having 300 days is totally inaccurate.

And if you need a loan for this your not going to get one, you cannot show a profit for almost 18 months and will sustain more than $100,000 in losses the first year in Maine.

It's far harder to obtain business insurance to cover this activity than to get a bank loan. There are only a couple of companies that insure these businesses and fee's range from $2-25K a year.

-maine grassroots

wineart said:

The law also ensures the right of local municipalities to not allow dispensarys through local zoning laws. I guarantee that there will be a lot of towns that will do just that, zone them out.
I also read yesterday that the state has 30 days to form a council and set guidelines. The head of DHS for the state has already stated that the state will have TIGHT control over dispensaries, including how many can be in a certain county. etc.

Better have all your T's crossed and I's dotted if you are serious about starting a dispensary in Maine. It seems like they view California as exactly what they dont want.
The medical conditions required for receiving a card were not expanded very much at all. There aren't going to be many cards given out due to this. Compound the small market, the $5,000 for a license, the need for 2 different spaces (one for growing, the second for a dispensary) and that's gonna be a tough nut to crack.

There is reason that many MMJ activists in the state weren't happy with the bill. It hardly goes far enough to help enough people and they've made it an economic liability to operate a dispensary.

Click to expand...

Towns and municiplaities will take one look at the revenue generated and each will be chomping at the bit or deal with thier budgets without extra revenues...[/QUOTE]

Again, completely inaccurate info. The law protects patients and dispensary owners. It allows local communities to enact "ereasonable" zoning rules. They cannot zone them out of being or simply not allow them. The same verbage is used to protect senior homes and clinics. When the state establishes zoning, and for this they have, cities cannot ban them.

The only thing in this for local communities will be local sales and property taxes. Most revenue will go right back at the state level. My community has no local sales tax, only a Maine sales tax. So all my community will see is someone paying property tax on a building that already has taxes paid on it, not much of a revenue boost.

-maine grassroots

MAINE GRASSROOTS KICKS ASS!!!!! We need more locals fighting for the cause!